My throat was dry but I forced myself to act normally. “Oh, I remember now,” I said. “That sounds interesting. Paris should be fun, too. Will you meet Ben there?” Ben was a friend of ours from university; he’d been living in Paris since we all left Manchester almost twenty years ago. “It would be good for you to meet up.”

The pause was three seconds; I counted.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “There’ll be a few of us going so I probably won’t have time.”

If I could have pointed a torch beam in his eyes to get the truth out of him just then, I would have. “Oh? Who’s going?”

“Nobody interesting.” He reeled off the names of a few of the younger guys who I knew would be off looking for a bar as soon as they landed. I waited. Here it came. “And Ruby’s coming. We need someone to help with the presentation.” Another pause. “We won’t see much of her, though. She’ll be off sightseeing as soon as she gets the chance.”

“That sounds like fun!” I said, in dutiful-wife mode. “You’ll have a great time.”

He switched off the shower and grabbed a towel. When he spoke, his voice was light with relief. “Oh, it won’t be fun,” he said. “You know that sort of thing; it can get boring at times. I’ll book into a hotel with a gym, I think. It’ll give me something to do in the evenings.”

Somehow I didn’t think he was going to be at a loss for something to do. I waited until he was back in the bedroom, flushed with heat and duplicity, before I said, “Oh well, why don’t I come with you? I’d love a weekend in Paris.”

He almost fell over himself to tell me that no, actually, that wasn’t a good idea. “Well, you can come if you like,” he said, “but I won’t be able to spend any time with you. I’ll be in meetings all the time. Why don’t we go together, later in the year? We could stay for a week and meet up with Ben. Perhaps take a trip to Versailles while we’re there—what do you think?”

I wanted to ask him why he needed a hotel with a gym if he was going to be so damn busy. “I don’t mind,” I said. “I can go to the galleries and do some shopping.”

He turned his back and towel-dried his hair so that I couldn’t see his expression. “Well . . .” he said, “it would be nice if you came. Only if you’re sure, though.”

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